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Get the lay of Nama-land with an 'app'

Sat, Oct 9, 2010, 01:00

FRANK McDONALD

ANYONE WITH a smart phone who wants to know what properties in Dublin we effectively own through Nama can now download an “app” to find them. And unlike Nama, which has cost us €54 billion (so far), the NAMAland app comes free of charge.

Devised by Dubliner Conor McGarrigle, who is doing a PhD in creative arts, NAMAland is described as “an augmented reality app which lets you see properties in Dublin owned by Nama”. It will work on the Layar browser for iPhone and Android devices.

“At NAMAland we like to look on the bright side,” Mr McGarrigle says in his blurb on www.walkspace.org/namaland. “Okay, the downside of Nama is that it’s costing you €54 billion, the upside is that you now own some of the best (and worst) properties in Dublin.”

By holding up your phone as you travel through Dublin, the app shows the location of nearby Nama properties by superimposing a cartoon NAMAman icon on them, showing the location of each property, the developer, its distance from you and can even give you directions. There is no official list of properties for which Nama owns the debt.